Voyages to Other Worlds
by exquisitness
Summary: First it's the Storm Hawks, but then an unknown enemy comes out of nowhere, giving them an ally, but making their task even harder...Rated T just in case violence, etc. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Hm...what'll happen when the Storm Hawks meet Link?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Storm Hawks to Link to all of Hyrule.

* * *

"Woah!" Finn, a blond haired, blue eyed so-called ladies' man exclaimed at the ancient, ruined temple that their 15-year-old leader, Aerrow, had led them to.

"This is supposed to be where they buried it," Aerrow said. He had blood-red hair and leaf green eyes. Even though he'd assured everyone else on his squadron that it was safe, he clutched his energy blades uneasily.

"Who's 'they'?" Junko, a rhino-like, huge humaniod with green hair asked.

"Well, them of course," Aerrow replied, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about.

"And what's 'it'?" The green merb called Stork asked. Having three toes, green skin, and a pessimistic personality, he was the squadron's pilot, as well as nearly the most diverse member of the team.

"Well, guess," Aerrow said, trying to keep their hopes up.

"A powerful crystal?" Piper, their navigator and know-it-all asked. Her dark blue hair looked almost black in the little light that was allowed in the ruins. They were in a sort of foyer, which lasted for what seemed like miles. Columns were in a grid pattern for the length and width of the building, holding up a cracked, though mostly intact, roof.

"Nope," Aerrow smiled. Radarr, a blue dog/lemur/rabbit/monkey started to try to say something, his language consisting mostly of chirps and growls, as well as Charades at times, when a deafening creak sounded throughout the temple.

"Erm," Junko observed, "Now might be a good time to get out."

"I think that might be best," Aerrow agreed anxiously, starting to turn around.

"Oh come on. A little creak and you guys want to get out. I think we should keep going," Finn said, showing his reckless bravado.

"Finn, get moving," Piper rolled her eyes and went to follow Aerrow. It wasn't long before they got back to their skimmers, and it was as they were starting to head back that Stork noticed the collapsing structure.

"Um, we'd better start moving," his voice rose nearly up to a wail. But they were too late and, for all their resourcefulness in the past, were obliterated by the falling rocks. Aerrow braced himself to be crushed, and was hit on the head hard enough, but it seemed like otherwise, he, and his companions, were missed. They kept on riding, but all of a sudden, it seemed like the floor beneath them abruptly fell away, and they fell into nosedives, and everyone realized that the temple had levels, and they had been on the top.

"There are floors to this place?!" Finn cried out. Aerrow spotted many life-forms on the levels in the building, though they weren't the kind he would have liked to see. Most of them were spiders as big around as his waist, or lizards in armour and brandishing cutlasses.

They all groped for the levers that would set them to flight, but they were falling so fast, they could barely keep a hold of their bike, let alone pull any lever. It was sheer chance that falling so quickly also tore the wing coverings off the skimmers, and the lid off Piper's propeller, but Stork's Stork-mobile had so many airbags, that it didn't really matter for him. He bounced, and somehow managed to land on Piper's heli-scooter.

They were about to land on the last level; a pitch-dark room, except for four spots of light, which highlighted four stone heads with large fists: one held up in the air and the other laying on the ground. They also saw a boy wearing green, including a long, triangular hat, and he carried a sword which was, at the moment, unsheathed. He was looking up on the ceiling. The six of them also looked up, to be confronted with a huge spider.

Finn shrieked, although that was justified, since the spider was heading for the spot just over his head, and an eye on its abdomen opened, shooting out a thread of what looked like some fire-lava cross. He deftly manoeuvred out of the way, and they all dropped to the ground and abandoned their skimmers.

"What is that thing?" Piper cried.

"I dunno," the blond boy said. "Just stay out of my way for five minutes." The beam stopped, and just before the eye closed, the boy shot at it with his bow and arrows, hitting it dead on. It fell to the floor, in front of one of the statues. The boy then took a blue wand with a pulsing ball and aimed at the statue. The statue came to life, and when the boy swung the wand, it brought its fist down, landing on the spider. It hissed, but groggily climbed back on the ceiling.

"Let me try," Aerrow said with a wry grin. He flicked out his energy blades once again and brought them to life. After just a second of aiming at the swift spider, he jumped up and performed his Lightning Claw move; one that sent powerful lines of energy in the shape of hawk wings towards the target. The spider was immediately brought to the ground where a shot from Junko's knuckle-busters made it screech again, though it got up to fight once more.

"My turn!" Finn said, taking easy aim with his energy crossbow and letting it loose to hit the eye once again, though the boy took the chance to finally dispatch the spider with a blow by the fist of a statue. It shrieked and hissed, louder than before, and curled up. The squadron turned to the boy, but he still watched the spider. They turned back, only to watch it explode into little black bits that, when they touched the ground, disappeared. A strange heart-shaped thing and a wedge-shaped piece of shiny metal or glass appeared and the boy scooped them up. All of a sudden, his shadow did something weird, although it didn't speak to him like it usually would have.

"Now that that thing's dead, who may I have the pleasure of thanking?" the boy asked.

"We're the Storm Hawks," Aerrow replied, gesturing to the rest of his crew. "I'm Aerrow, he's Finn, she's Piper, that's Stork, this is Radarr," the animal jumped on his shoulder, "And that's Junko. Who are you?"

"I'm Link," he said. "Now, can I help you at all?"

"Um, how do we get back up to the top?" Finn asked.

"Midna can help us with that. Come on out. They might as well know," he said, the last bit spoken to his shadow. A high, female voice could just barely be heard saying,

"No no no! You haven't even told the shaman about me and he's been more helpful!"

"Well, they know now," Link rolled his eyes and Midna finally appeared. She was still part of his shadow for the moment, so Aerrow and the others couldn't make out more than her tear drop silhouette and yellow and red eye, but it was enough to show that they weren't in Atmos anymore.

"Do I have to take those things to?" she asked, pointing towards the skimmers, heli-scooter and somewhat smashed Stork-mobile. Aerrow looked around at his companions, and the glances from all of them told him what he needed to know.

"No, we can leave them." Stork started to blubber about leaving his vehicle behind, but something strange started happening to them with a wave of the shadow's hand. They all seemed to start to disintegrate into pieces similar to what the spider had become and Piper cried out in fear, but not even a second later they all reformed outside the temple, where Rusl, an old, armour-wearing warrior waited. He peered at them uncertainly, though he led them in near silence back to the nearest town, only speaking to ask if any of them were hurt.

When they got to the village, Link was assaulted by what seemed like family, though they were actually just family friends. In fact, as Piper thought, he didn't seem to have any family.

"Are the children all right?" a young woman asked.

"Perfectly fine. They should be coming home as soon as I can help them make the trip," Link replied.

"And you're doing well?" a fatter woman inquired.

"Yes, yes. Fine," he said, then interrupted a middle-aged man who was about to re-ask the previous questions. "Now, these people need to rest."

The young woman immediately took the Storm Hawks under her wing and set up lots of blankets under the stars, since no one had room for them in houses, and the night was clear and warm. Going to sleep, Stork couldn't help thinking that even though they were now being taken care of, there were secrets that were being kept; ones that would get them in trouble, if not killed.

* * *

Wow...this may be one of my longest chapters ever


	2. Chapter 2

What'll happen next? (pathetic summary, I know)

Anyway...

* * *

Piper seemed like the only one who couldn't sleep. She rolled over to her right, and there was the mountain called Junko, sleeping relatively soundly, and on her left, there was Radarr, snoring away. She slid out from under the covers to explore this new world that had appeared, literally under her. She walked towards the slow-moving river and stood under a tall green pillar with ivy curling up it. She started to sit when she heard a voice. A now almost familiar voice. And it was coming from on top of the pillar.

Piper climbed up the ivy to see Link sitting and looking up at the stars, and seeming to talk to himself.

"How long do you think the Storm Hawks will be here?"

A small voice started to reply, but then hissed, "Someone's here!"

"Mind if I join you?" Piper asked.

"No, not if you'll listen to me talk," he answered.

"Who were you talking to?" she asked, taking a place beside him.

"Midna," he answered simply, and a high pitched groan was heard. "She doesn't like anyone else to know about her because of her 'heritage', shall we say."

Then Midna appeared out of Link's shadow and started to lecture him. "Link, seriously! You can't just tell some wandering strangers I exist, let alone tell them about my history! Now, if you'll refrain from mentioning me further, I won't desert you to your fate. Ya got that?! If I were to leave you, then that would mean no more warping or becoming a wolf for you!" Piper frowned curiously, but just continued to listen as Link poured out his history to her:

"I don't remember a time when I wasn't with the people here in Ordon, but it was only lately that I found out there was a prophesy about me, that some people keep referring to, but I haven't been able to piece together yet, and after this, I found out I wasn't even human—"

"What?" Piper exclaimed, pulling away. She was almost expecting him to become some gelatinous beast, ready to swallow her up.

"No, no," he started to explain, "I'm Hylian, mostly human, but part something else. We were sent to watch over humans." Piper calmed down a bit and scooched back to her spot. "So, I've been on a quest to save all of Hyrule. First it was just banishing eternal Twilight from the land, but now I have to get to Twilight to save Princess Zelda. She's the only heir left to Hyrule, and to save Midna, she banished herself to Twilight."

"So, is Twilight, like, an alternate world?" Piper asked.

"Yes, ruled by Zant, who was trained by Ganondorf. Twilight was supposed to be a world completely separate from this one; only connected by a mirror so anything that was bad enough to be banished as far as possible, and couldn't be killed, could be sent there. Zant was originally part of Twilight, but when Ganondorf was imprisoned there, he taught Zant how to be strong enough to capture all of Hyrule. That's when Zant came to turn the whole of this world to Twilight so Ganondorf could follow, I gather. It was when some beasts from Twilight attacked this village that I got wrapped up in all this and found out my true heritage. When I'm in Twilight, the triforce I posses turns me to a wolf. On an accidental confrontation with Zant, he'd thrown some shadow crystal at Midna, but I was in the way and it flew into my forehead, which hurt a lot, and which would also keep me as a wolf. But, when I got the Master Sword, its power forced out the crystal and now I can turn into a wolf whenever I want by using the crystal. I was just killing the boss for the Temple of Time when you dropped in."

"You mean that huge spider?" she asked.

"Yep," he answered, and they both looked up at the stars for several more minutes, when Piper began to speak again.

"So, we're in Hyrule right now?"

"Technically, you're in Ordon Village, in Ordon Province, which is in Hyrule, yes," He said.

"Do you know how we got here?"

"Nope. But I've gotten used to things like this, so it didn't really phase me."

"You know, back in my world, we use crystals for everything from fuel to flying. See, like this one," she pulled out the small green one, "This is a _______ crystal. It can heal things, but now that I've tapped into its matrix, I can make it do almost anything." She held it out, studying it herself and watched it slight pulsing glow fade. Her eyes got big. "What?!" She jumped up and aimed it at some stones, saying as loud as she could without waking anyone, "Lift!" Nothing happened. The crystal was not only dim and looking like emerald, but was also dull rather than its usual glass-like sheen. Piper went pale. Link jumped up as well.

"Do you think it's because you're away from your world; where this belongs?" he asked.

"Let's hope so," Piper muttered.

After this, Piper climbed down, saying that she should at least try to get some sleep. The world around her was already starting to get a little lighter.

As she slid back under her covers, Radarr muttered in his sleep and Piper started, trying to be as quiet as possible. Sleep didn't claim her until about two hours before the sun was fully up.

********

Aerrow, of course, was the first one awake. Radarr dreamed on Aerrow's right, having stopped snoring, and Finn babbled in his sleep to Aerrow's left. He slid out from under the covers and crept away from the others, just to look around, he told himself. The sun was almost up now, and he could see five houses in the steadily growing light: one on his right and left each; one around a corner of earth to his left; one across a bridge over the river; and one farther up the river, which had a slowly turning water wheel. Straight ahead down the dirt path and beyond the fourth house was huge, low wooden gate and on it hung a sign. Aerrow went to read it and could only barely make out the word 'ranch'. He almost went to investigate, but he heard Radarr sleepily wander up behind him, only to collapse with his arms around Aerrow's leg. Aerrow chuckled and lifted Radarr to his shoulder. The familiar weight comforted him in this foreign world.

"How are we going to get home?" he whispered to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, I admit, I couldn't help adding my favourite OC to the mix. But, she's a helpful girl.

* * *

Over the course of that day, the Storm Hawks were introduced to everyone in the village: Bo was an older -- and rounder -- man with a weird moustache. He was the leader of Ordon Village. There was Uli, the young, and quite pregnant, woman who'd arranged a sleeping place for the Storm Hawks. Fado was man who owned the ranch; he was tall-ish and quite skinny with darker hair. Jaggle was husband to Fergie and wood-worker, though he was also a part-time farmer. Sera was round and almost tired looking, though her blond hair was almost always perfectly done. Hanch was Sera's wife and had red spots all over his face, as if he were recovering from some sort of insect attack. The last person that the Storm Hawks met was Rusl, the only warrior in the village and Uli's husband. He seemed to have a fatherly relationship with Link, and the boy looked up at him with respect.

For the rest of the day, the Storm Hawks were told general knowledge of Hyrule, as well as a little bit of history and Link's extensive part in it. It was nearly sunset when anything really interesting happened.

The sun was minutes from touching the horizon when something like a huge black bird flew impossibly fast around the sky and suddenly changed direction to land with tonnes of force in front of the wooden ranch gate. By the time the 'bird' had recovered from its landing, Link and Aerrow had led the charge to the landing site, the other Storm Hawks following and the villagers beyond them.

The dust finally cleared and a tall, broad, blond man wearing black clothing, including a huge cape, appeared clutching the wrist of a girl who looked only a bit younger than Aerrow, Finn, and Piper. Her long auburn chocolate brown hair, while loose and despite her struggles, remained shiny and relatively knot-free. She wore a loose, thick top with a hood and a thick metal zipper, as well as dark blue bottoms.

"Let me go!" she cried and within her struggles, she caught a hold of the zipper and ripped the top open, revealing a light blue, tightly-fitted top. The man, who'd been holding her clothed wrist, lost his grip on the girl. She fell backward and quickly scrambled beside Link. The man started to advance on her, but both older boys closed in front of her.

"Fine," he growled, "But you know you won't be getting back without coming with me."

"And of course I'd do that," she retorted sarcastically. The man seemed to relent and almost turn to go, but the girl could read the look in his eyes. She went to push Aerrow away from the man's cruel grasp, but she was too slow and almost closed her hand around Aerrow's ankle. She jumped up and got to a position just behind Link as the rest of Aerrow's squadron came forward to defend their leader.

Junko banged his fists together, but seemed surprised when nothing happened. Finn held up his steely crossbow, but watched in near shock as the crystal tips faded. Piper moaned.

"I forgot to tell you guys. Crystals don't work here," she said. The girl was still slightly behind Link when the man in black said,

"It's either you or him, but you know how much more valuable you are to me. Come now and no one will get hurt." He had one arm across Aerrow's chest, and what with his size, it was futile to struggle. With his free arm, he pulled a silver dagger from his belt, "Except you of course." He aimed the comment towards the girl. She looked down at her feet.

********

Right now would be the wrong time to give away my plan, which I was working up in milliseconds. With my peripheral vision, I looked for anything that would help. I could imagine the fear in the red-haired guy's eyes, and sweat on his forehead. My head was still bent, so the Shadow, the man who'd brought me here, couldn't see where my eyes were.

"I need your sword," I breathed to the guy in green. "Distract him with an arrow once I have it." I could practically feel the distrust emanating from him, but he understood the situation. The Shadow wouldn't hesitate to take a life. The guy in green reached a hand behind his back and started to twist the sword in its leather sheath until it was released. He let it carefully slide down the back of his leg, keeping it hidden, until I walked forward, feigning consent. As I walked by, I nonchalantly took the sword and hid it as I walked. When I was near enough to strike, I hear the guy in green, lightening fast, draw his bow and shoot an arrow just an inch from the Shadow's ear.

"Missed!" the Shadow exclaimed, lifting the dagger. I stabbed at his side, away from the red-haired guy, and hit my target, enough to make him bleed, but what he'd said was true: There was no way I could get out of this place without him. After all, he'd been the one to take over my dream.

He cried out, grasping his side and letting go of the red-haired guy. He also dropped the dagger, which fell onto the dirt road with a dull clang. I whipped the sword around to hold it at his neck.

"Go now," I growled.

"And you still know you can't leave yourself without me?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes. Now—"

"I know, I know. I'm going now," he snapped, becoming like a cross between a group of bats, and a huge, black bird once again, fleeing somewhere to lick his wounds. When I was sure he was gone, I turned to the motley group behind me, first handing the sword, hilt-first, back to the guy in green, then said,

"I'm Tina," to everyone. At that point, I collapsed, though whether from weakness or simply the strain of long dream-travel, I don't really know.


	4. Chapter 4

Yes, this one's kind of short, but really, the first few were really long for me.

What's wrong with Tina?

* * *

The girl, Tina, once she'd defeated the man, had collapsed for no apparent reason. Rusl and Uli rushed forward, the first to carry her and the other to fuss. Uli put her hand to Tina's forehead, exclaiming how she couldc't really tell whether anything was wrong.

"Link, go get Renado. Now!" she commanded. He obeyed without question, whistling for his horse, Epona. Tina was carried into Rusl's house and laid on a bed. Within minutes, she was awake and put a hand to her forehead and a hand to her side, where she'd fallen.

"What just happened?" Rusl asked. He and Uli were at the front of the crowd who'd piled into their house.

"I'm not sure," Tina groaned, starting to sit up. After a second, she started to stand, but Rusl put a hand on her shoulder.

"You'd better lay down for a few more minutes at least," he said. She obliged, swinging her legs back up. Aerrow brought in the curious article of clothing and pushed his way to the front, bashfully thanking her.

"Thanks for covering me back there."

"Are you kidding?" she replied, "That was all my fault and I'm so sorry." However, she took the shirt and wrapped it around her bare shoulders.

"What's this about you being valuable to that guy?" Aerrow asked.

(Change POV)

I heard the guy with the crossbow comment to someone else, "Yeah. If that guy in black knew who Aerrow was, then he might have rethought that."

"Well Aerrow," I started, putting two and two together in milliseconds and realizing that Aerrow was the red haired guy's name. He looked confused, so I explained, "Thank your buddy over there." I pointed to the back of the crowd, then yelled in that direction, "I can hear you know!" Then I got on with my story.

"I've come from a world where everyone has a shine—"I broke off suddenly and looked down at my hands. They weren't glowing anymore. "You may think I'm crazy, but anyway, my shine was apparently very beautiful by their standards, and gave me power. I'd been schooled by a rich man who literally took me off the streets, but he abandoned me soon after seeing a man with blond hair, but wearing black. This new guy's shine wasn't really a shine at all. He absorbed light, and got himself the name, the Shadow. He took me down underground, along with a friend I'd picked up, named Ben, and locked us in a dungeon where the only light were our shines. I'd just fallen asleep when the Shadow trapped me inside my dream and brought me here." Confusion seemed to echo around the small hut. "But, at the moment I'm not even sure I'm still in a dream."

Questions were thrown in front of me like slices of ham, and I just tried to answer them. "So the guy who brought you and almost killed Aerrow is the Shadow?" To which my answer was yes. "And you won't be able to get out of here without him?" Probably. "Will he be able to help us get home?" I dunno. "Are we all a dream?" I dunno at this point in time. "Where's Ben?" I'm not sure. I sighed, and realizing just how much I didn't know, Rusl helped clear everyone except himself and his wife out so I could 'Get some rest'.

********

Both adults went around cleaning up their home for the few minutes before Renado got here to check me over. When he did get here, I found out he'd been given Epona, Link's horse, for speed and Link wouldn't get back for another day at least.

When he got in the tent, I saw him to be dark-skinned with thick lips and almost black dreadlocks. He wore robes that reminded me of Aboriginal or First Nations clothing. He looked at me and placed a hand on my forehead.

"Do you know why you would have fainted?" he asked me. I repeated my story to him, and he nodded slowly, seeming to understand. "There is nothing wrong with you right now. However," the word resounded around the small room. "If you faint again, then you must come to see me for a little while."

I closed my eyes, groaning inwardly, and could only hope that it didn't happen.


	5. Chapter 5

Now what? Let's find out! (pathetic summary, I know)

* * *

"Who do you think she is?" Finn asked, toying with his crossbow. "And why do you think our crystals don't work?"

"There's so much we don't know right now," Piper sighed.

"Anybody up for some glowing grubs?" Junko said, holding up a flat rock with dead, glowing bugs on it. He picked one up and ate it.

"No thanks Junko. The people of Ordon village have been feeding us well," Aerrow said, trying to keep from grimacing at the dish.

"Besides Junko," Stork warned, peeking over the wallop's shoulder, "They might be carriers of the 'Death of Doom' sickness." Junko spat the bug out and dumped his dish on the ground.

Just barely seconds after this, Renado came out of the house and walked up to the group. "I have not met you yet. I am Renado." Aerrow introduced them, and then inquired about Tina. She'd really worried everyone when she just collapsed.

"I expect she'll be fine. Just watch her," he winked.

"Why?" Finn asked.

"Do you really think I'm going to make it that easy for you?" Renado chuckled. "I will stay here for a little while. If the girl faints again, then I'll take her with me when I go back to my own village."

Renado went back into the little house, and a few moments later Tina came out.

********

My legs felt a little weak, but as the day progressed, that went away. I found the six teens just far from the house, where they were variously sprawled on the grass.

"You can sure handle a sword," Aerrow commented. I shrugged.

"I haven't met all of you," I said, and they were introduced to me. Stork intrigued me, what with his pessimism. I found it really kind of funny, in a predictable way. The only other one to catch my attention more than the others was Aerrow. He was leader, after all, but he also had those blades. Was he a good swordfighter too? I wondered. I'd have to ask sometime. And the really weird thing about him was that he and I looked almost similar. I mean, between the red hair (or, almost red hair for me) and our eyes being almost the same colour, we could almost be siblings. Piper seemed to notice this too, as did Radarr, who peered at us queerly, but neither brought it up.

We didn't sit around for to long though. I itched to get up and do something. The sun had nearly set by now. I noticed Aerrow looking at my hair, so I looked down at the strands that always fell over my shoulders. The sunlight glinted off it like liquid copper. It had a similar effect on his as well. In fact, we all looked like we had halos. Finn's looked especially nice, but he also had shiny, blond hair.

I pulled my knees into my chest. "How do you think we'll get home?" I asked.

"I was hoping that guy who brought you here could take us back, the way he brought you here, but I don't think he'd do us any favours," Aerrow said. "Other than that, I don't think any of us have a clue." Piper shrugged.

"And without our crystals, we don't have really any way of protecting ourselves." My eyebrows knotted.

"Don't you know how to use your weapons without crystal power? I mean, Finn," I addressed him; "You could easily learn to use a powered-down crossbow." Then I turned to Aerrow. "And you should be able to adjust to using a sword fairly quickly."

"What about us?" Junko asked.

"Well," I thought for a moment, "Without crystals to make things stronger," I continued slowly, "You probably don't need your weapon, or at least, you don't need them to work. Still wearing them would protect your knuckles."

They all nodded, starting to warm to the idea. "Come on. Let's see if the villagers have anything for us to practice with," I suggested. The others agreed and got up with me.


	6. Chapter 6

They all followed Tina to Rusl, who they supposed would have the knowledge of any weapons for them to use, and while he presented them with several staffs, a short sword, and a crossbow. Everyone went to pick up their weapon, but Rusl laid a hand on Tina's shoulder once again.

"Not yet. You should take it easy for a little while at least," he explained. She rolled her eyes, but decided not to argue.

Stork gingerly picked up a staff, as did Piper, and Aerrow went for the sword.

"This feels so weird. I mean, I'm used to having two, light blades. This one's heavy," he commented. Radarr tried to pick up one of the wooden rods, but it was many times his height. Aerrow took it from him and broke it over his knee. "There you go Radarr." The little blue thing took the piece of wood and swung it around like a master. Piper tried the same and said with confidence,

"This is so light! Learning this will be easy."

"Piper, you forget that we won't have the help of crystals," Aerrow pointed out, swinging his blade around experimentally. Stork tried to do the same as Radarr and Piper, and sort of succeeded, but he left a huge whole in his defences, unlike the other two, who kept the stick moving and covering all angles. I pointed this out to him, and added,

"I wish I could help you." I longed to pick up a staff. This would be much more difficult, since I couldn't. Or, at least, was told not to. With a secret smile, I thought about taking the training beyond the sight of Rusl and the other villagers. Then, while I knew I might be doing something bad, at least they'd learn something.

Finn looked at the crossbow sceptically, and Rusl had to show him how to use it: Pull back the string, insert crossbow bolt, and then fire. "Oh man," he groaned. "This is so NOT cool." He took easy aim with the loaded bow, and fired at a high branch of a tree that grew behind one of the houses, only to miss by a long shot. "NOT cool," he muttered again. I stifled a giggle.

(Change POV)

Everyone knew that learning to fight without crystals at their back, and protecting them, and as plan B would be difficult, but especially Finn had it hard. Not only would he not have auto-load, but he also wouldn't have the homing-arrows that he was so used to, as had been demonstrated.

Piper looked up to her right, thinking, then dropped her staff and took up Finn's crossbow. "Hm…" she murmured, "I wonder…" She fitted a regular bolt to the upgraded, metal crossbow and tried to fire at the ground. Even the auto load was powered by crystals and the bolt just fell to the grass; no power behind it. Piper dropped the crossbow dejectedly.

"We don't have anything now. No info, no weapons, not even our vehicles."

The same realization dawned on everyone. Except Tina. She shrugged.

"That's what I'm used to," she said. "I just pick things up as I go. Now, Rusl, is there anywhere where we can really train?"

* * *

How will their training go? How quickly will they all pick up on the primitive weapons? And will Tina somehow disobey Rusl and Renado?


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the hiatus, guys! But now, the next chapter:

* * *

Rusl led all six teens plus Radarr to the clearing where, he explained, all children in the village trained. It seemed kind of like a bowl almost, with earth 'walls' rising up around them, and directly across the clearing from the entrance was not only an exit, but the ladder to a treehouse. "That is where Link was living," Rusl said. Trees lined the ridge above them, and among them, one of the many training tools had its home. Targets were strategically placed around the clearing, hung from the trees. There were also three straw dummies with red and white bullseye's painted on their chest. In the clearing, there was also a horse stall of sorts with barely even a wooden roof to cover it.

Aerrow immediately took a swing at one of the dummies with his sword and hit it hard enough to splinter the straw, though it barely moved. Piper made a down-slash towards another one of the dummies, and nearly fell when she didn't hit it like she meant to; slipping off its head, and onto its left shoulder, rather than 'cleaving' its head in two.

Finn took a moment and loaded his crossbow, with a grimace, and shot at one of the targets. He hit it, but only barely. His head hung. Radarr stood for a moment, not really knowing what to do, but went up to Piper and tugged on her pant leg. She bent down to him, and with many extravagant motions, she finally understood that he'd like to train with her.

"Radarr, why don't you train with Stork and teach him some of your moves," she said, gently declining. The pet thing looked dejected, but went to do as Piper had suggested. Needless to say, he had a lot to teach the Merb, and not being able to communicate with words made it much harder. Tina just stood, eagerly watching the training, and longingly looking at the weapons they were using.

Aerrow was slowly tweaking his style until he really started to damage the dummy, and Rusl went over to give him a few pointers, before moving on to Finn. He skipped Piper and went to help Stork. Tina found this a little strange, as she could see things Piper could use help with, and so went to help her, by constantly pointing out things to remember. Piper welcomed this help with open arms; even the technique she used. Before long, Piper had made the constant reminders into habit, which, while surprising Tina, also pleased the both of them.

*-*-*

After this, I went to help Aerrow, as he needed it badly. He was leaving his whole left side open, since, as I could see, he'd been fighting with two blades for years. I studied the blades at his side, and less than a second after wondering if he could use them anyway, saw that they were far to dull to do much damage to anything. I looked around the clearing and inwardly groaned when I finally spotted Rusl, working with Stork. I needed to be able to work with them, and I couldn't with the old warrior right there. I nearly sighed, but went over to Aerrow anyway and tried to help him. Needless to say, he needed more than just pointers. He was the kind of person who needed to do, not be told how. I'd need to help him by fighting him if he was going to train properly, and be able to protect himself. But, what I was able to do now wasn't enough, and I went back to Piper, but found that she didn't need my help any more.

I looked over to Finn, and he was frustratedly shooting a target full of arrows. That's when Link arrived. He frowned at the activity just outside his house, but lightened up and began to show Aerrow the proper way to fight with an actual sword. I then watched as he showed Finn how to use a longbow – more powerful and accurate over long distances, even if it was a little finicky to load until you got the hang of it. Finn still didn't like the fact that he didn't have his auto-load anymore, but there wasn't much he could do, and he found learning something completely different than what he'd been using easier, rather than re-learning what he already knew, which, especially for me, made tons of sense. After all, the only real reason I knew how to do so much was because I had different 'brains', as I said later. When I have to learn something completely different than what I already know, then I make a new 'brain', but when I learn something similar to what I already know, then I make a copy of the 'brain' it's similar to, but then, that makes learning harder because there are things I have to relearn, or delete and remake what was already there. It makes sense when you think about it.

It was these thoughts that ran through my mind as I watched. There wasn't exactly anything for me to do now that Link was here. It surprised me that he was here, since Renado had said that he'd be here tomorrow. After a few more minutes of just standing around, I went over to some thick grass and sat down to watch the proceedings of training.

Before long, I was bored, and sighed. Aerrow heard this and looked over, smiling empathetically. It was at this point that Rusl said, "We should go get some food now." Everyone stopped what they were doing and followed him gratefully back to the center of the village. There was nothing to eat yet, but while many of the men expected it, Piper and I joined the other ladies in the water-wheel house and helped prepare the bread, as well as carrying the dried meat and butter out to everyone outside.

"Don't touch this food until everyone else is out," I heard Piper hiss to Finn and Aerrow. "We're still guests, remember." Just a few more minutes, and everyone in the village, the six Storm Hawks and I were sitting on the packed dirt ground just outside the water-wheel house, and we all had enough room, and more, for the food that was presented. Good food it was, and I sat back, leaning on my elbows, ready for sleep. It seemed like everyone else was too, though the sun had only just set, and I was expecting many of us to be up late.

Aerrow sat to my right, with his squadron to his right. Link was on my left, and the rest of the villagers to his. On the other side of the circle, and to my right a little bit, Piper and Pergie, the lady who owned the water wheel house sat beside each other. A few of the men conversed across the circle, but the world was otherwise quiet. I closed my eyes and listened, and before long, I was asleep.

*-*-*

Aerrow had been talking with Rusl and another man, Fado, who owned the ranch just beyond the village, about their different life styles. While Aerrow was a born traveler, the men were village men; not willing to leave their life home easily. Aerrow was told a little about what it was like to own a farm, and he in turn told them a little bit about his life, and the forces he'd been up against back in Atmos. Fado and Rusl were blown away by his stories, which lasted long into the night. The moon was high in the sky before Aerrow paused and noticed that both Tina and Piper slept, while Junko, Finn and Link were discussing various weapons, and how their manual weapons could be modified to make them better, even without the now useless crystals. Nearly everything they came up with would take supplies that they didn't have with them, and would need to go to Hyrule Castle Town for them. After realizing this, the others also noticed how the girls slept, and while Aerrow gently picked up Tina, the lighter and smaller of the two, the older Link got Piper. With quiet murmuring and lots of gestures, the boys were led to beds inside the water-wheel house where the girls were laid. Tina stirred a little, nearly waking up, and Piper's eyes flickered a little, but they remained asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Hm...What now?

* * *

While I slept, I drempt of the cell I'd been in, but time was at super speed, and I didn't see much…but then again, I couldn't see much in the entrapping dark. I couldn't even make out Ben's form. Before long though, I woke up just after dawn in the world of Link, and the village of Ordon. I jumped out of bed and pulled my hair into a somewhat respectable ponytail before blinking away the layer of mist that seemed to cloud my vision. This was normal. Once I could see relatively well I went outside and found Link up, of course.

"The others are still sleeping," he said, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"I figured that out," I gave him a wry smile and rubbed my eyes. "Would you like to warm up with me?"

He shrugged and started to turn to go to the same area where training had started yesterday, but then stopped and looked at me. "But you're not allowed."

I sighed. "But I'm fine. It was just a freak accident. It's over now."

A devilish look came into his eyes. "Alright. I'll grab the training sword."

I waited in the clearing area while he grabbed it, and I studied the targets. Finn had cleared the higher targets of arrows, with help from Link and Rusl, who both had plenty of practice at it. The tips would now be somewhat dull, but they weren't going to be used for hunting and killing.

When he handed me the sword, I noted that it was indeed a training sword, since its balance was off a little, just about three inches up from the pommel. He took out his sword, and motioned for me to make the first move. I happily complied.

*-*-*

When she started, I noticed how fine tuned her style was. She was good, and had her small size against me, but I had a speed that her arms just couldn't get until she was older. Her tactics were amazing, her strength, though it didn't match any young man's, was also worth noting. Her size allowed her to dart underneath many of my usual attacks, and she definitely wasn't predictable. Luckily, I was the type who moved quickly so my enemy couldn't lay a finger on me while I poked their back.

*-*-*

When I first began, I had the expectation that I'd need to slow down for him. That was certainly not the case, and I relished the challenge that he presented. He was fast and large, and I was a little slower and small. But one thing he didn't account for was the fact that my head worked quickly to change my tactic all the time, whereas he was almost predictable. His speed made it hard to keep up with him. Needless to say, he was a difficult opponent and we were well matched.

Our bout ended when Rusl found us and was nearly frozen in shock at what he found. In his eyes was anger, almost fury, probably at the fact that I'd done something that he'd said not to, and I hadn't just disobeyed him, but Renado as well. Link had noticed him first and almost dropped his sword at the look on the old warrior's face. I delivered a smack across his behind, having not noticed what caught his attention, and smiled, but while Link rubbed the area where I'd hit him, he nonchalantly motioned for me to look over to where Rusl stood, fuming.

* * *

What'll be Tina's punishment? Not to mention Link encouraging her. What will Rusl do? And when will we get some more real action? That and more is coming up next!


	9. Chapter 9

In case you haven't guessed, Rusl, who we all thought was the great, kind warrior, is sort of against girls and women as leaders and warriors. And now that both Tina and Link have disobeyed him, can you guess what's in store for them?

* * *

Tina dropped her sword as if it had burned her. Her shoulders dropped a little and she didn't look into Rusl's eyes, thought she wasn't exactly staring at her shoes.

"Tina, we've put up with your other-worldly antics for long enough now, and you don't seem to have had the consideration to respect our wishes about your well-being. If you're going to insist on this behaviour, then I can do nothing other than insist that you leave us, and our children, in Kakariko village, alone. I give you a choice now: Either stay and rest, or go and do what you want. Make your decision," he said icily. Link looked from the man who'd been like a father to him, to the girl. What would she do?

Tina visibly deflated. This was obviously a decision she didn't want to make. She mouthed the words, "Tell the others," to Link, made sure he understood and then turned and ran down the path opposite the village.

"She's made her decision," Rusl bowed his head. "What about you?" He asked.

"I'm staying here," Link answered resolutely. "And I'm sorry about encouraging her," he added, even if it was mostly a lie. She was a very good opponent, and he would find her again, mostly to help her out with that man who'd brought her here, and perhaps she'd help him in return…he could only be hopeful. With his head bowed, so Rusl couldn't see, a sly smile spread across Link's face.

*-*-*

I ran away from him, who had seemed to be a friend. But, I rethought that thought and changed it. He didn't know how to be my friend. That sounded better. I ran on for a little while, but snuck back a bit to leave a visible trail for anyone who wanted to follow, meaning Link and the Storm Hawks. Before long, I found myself at a clean, blue pool. I would have waded in, but I didn't want to soak my shoes and jeans. It turned out, I didn't have to. My toes touched the edge of the water, and a golden, seemingly cross between a bull, the head and front legs, and a wolf, the body, back legs, and tail. Its voice rang out through the clearing, though I had a feeling only I could actually hear it.

"Little one, you do not belong here, though you come not by your own choosing. I know who brought you here, as well as why and how, but those either you know or you will find out. No spirits are able to help you on your way because you are not of either this world, or the world of the Twili, both of which you will soon find out much. Help those you travel with, and you will in turn help yourself." After it said this, it disappeared, and I closed my eyes. No supernatural help would come to me this time. And it knew me…what did that mean? I could only wonder, and wait, until not long after, the Storm Hawks and Link came to find me.

*-*-*

She looked confused, Aerrow thought. Link and the others saw this as well, but only the guy in green could piece together even remotely what had happened. Before anyone else could ask what had happened, Link said to her,

"I'm sorry for Rusl's outburst. I really have no explanation besides that he really likes to help, but only if everybody does exactly what he says."

"Don't worry about it. Worse has happened," she said, fluttering a hand to show that it was of no importance. "What we should be worrying about it how to get us all home."

The clearing around the pool was silent for several seconds.

"Seeing as you all have no idea what to do, I think we should go to the major metropolis here, and see if my captor is there. He may be able to do something for us, and I find that the most likely place for him to be. Unless any of you have a better idea," Tina said.

"Well," Link looked upwards, thinking. "There are other places that he might be. If you guys head to Hyrule Castle Town, then I'll go to the other places and check them out."

"How would you do that without leaving us waiting for weeks?" Finn and Piper asked at the same time, though with slightly different wordings. Link, of course, didn't want to reveal how he could warp and said that he had his secrets. He pulled a folded map from a pouch at his waist and laid it on the ground.

"This is the road you'll be taking to the Castle Town," he moved his finger along a relatively straight path. "And I'll be going to these spots." He now pointed towards six spots on the map, before saying their names, "Kakariko village, Goron Mountain, the Zora's Domain, Lake Hylia, Snowpeak, and Gerudo Desert. The last two are unlikely, seeing as there is no way to get there by foot, but I wouldn't rule this out as a possibility for him." Tina nodded her agreement.

"Sounds good. So as long as we follow the path, we should get to the Castle Town in good time?" She asked.

"A day and a half," Link confirmed. "And the only time the path gets somewhat twisty is in this tunnel," he moved his finger along a short section on the map, "And it'd dark in there, but as long as you know where the walls are, you should be fine."

"As long as the foreign-eating monswraths don't get us first," Stork warned in a fit of paranoia.

"Who says that the monsters here are the same as on Atmos?" Piper laughed.

"Just to be safe, we should all spray down with my special monster-repelling spray," Stork revealed a small spray can and offered it to everyone, but they politely declined, as did Link and Tina, deciding if the Merb's friends knew better than to take it, then so should they.

"Let's go," Aerrow stood and waited for us all to get up, before we headed in the direction that would eventually lead us to the city.

The Storm Hawks and I stood to go, but Junko remembered that we'd need some provisions. Link handed us some bread and cheese, and I made a pack out of my inside-out hoodie, mentally rationing it so we'd have enough for two days, in case we encountered anything unpleasant that held us up for a while.

Once I had slung the pack over my shoulder, finding that it was surprisingly comfy, the seven of us set off, leaving Link at the pool. I suspected that he'd get around to all the places as quickly as he would, would have to do with something supernatural. I just didn't know what yet.

I fell into step beside Finn and Aerrow, who had Radarr on his shoulder were in front, with Piper just a little bit behind us. Junko and Stork walked behind her, with the former seeming to be kind of protective over us, and the Merb's eyes darting all around us for any signs of gut-wrenching terror. To tell you the truth, I was almost as scared, but more in a more cautious and wary way. Not only did we not have one person among us who knew about the land, but we barely even knew where we were going. _I'd give just about anything for a photocopier, right now, _I thought, wishing that we could somehow copy the map. Not that I was an amazing navigator, of course. I had trouble with maps.

*-*-*

They walked in relative silence for a long time. When the sun was high in the sky, they got out the food to eat, Tina making sure everyone had proper rations to make the food last, and they ate as they walked. Of course, Finn didn't chew his bread enough and nearly started to choke, but with a few whallops on the back by the largest member of our company, he was fine and until night fall, our trip had gone rather smoothly.

We were most of the way across a field and could see the city – finally – but it was too dark to go on, and we settled down on a slight hill of long grass to sleep under the stars.


	10. Chapter 10

When we got up with the rising sun, I got the impression that I wasn't the only person who was tired and sore from sleeping on the ground. Everyone seemed to be somewhat sluggish, but I, being used to it, jumped up; did some stretches, which Piper copied in an effort to wake up; and handed out food.

Afterward, we got moving, though at a slower pace than before. It didn't take long for the city to be in sight, and we all noticed at once a strange thing in the center of it, rising up three times the height of the impressive city. It was like a golden diamond with silicon-circuit-like black lines running over its surface. A few spires from the entrapped castle could faintly be seen through the translucent shell. We were all surprised at this and somewhat startled, but we kept on towards the city, deciding that Link had known about this and wouldn't send us into something that dangerous.

By lunch, we were at the city gates, but before we entered over the long drawbridge from outer wall to inner city, I divided up the rest of the food among us, of which there was a little more than there had been at the other meals, and we were about to actually enter the city, only to be stopped by none other than Link.

"Does it really have to take that long for a simple trip?" He asked mischievously.

"How long have you been waiting here?" Piper asked.

"Since before dawn," he answered with a wry grin. Everybody had question marks in their eyes. Well, they did at first. After a second, they realized what had happened while I was left in the dark.

"What?" I asked indignantly.

"Midna can warp people around," Link said, and everyone heard the quiet grumbling of someone who we couldn't see.

"Oh," I said, not really knowing who he was talking about. I had no doubt that I'd learn more about it later. "Now what?"

"Now, we ask around. But," Link said, "You can't mingle in those clothes, and you," he motioned to Junko and Stork, "probably should shows yourselves too much, though people here are used to some unusual sightings." He revealed a brown paper package (or it might have been parchment, but I couldn't tell) and unwrapped it to reveal the bright fabric of clothes that would fit in with the rest of the populace. "I'll show you where you can change."

He led us around the outer wall to an area that was relatively sheltered so we could change. Both Piper and I had dresses that were a little too long, and while hers was pink, mine was blue. Aerrow, Finn, and Stork had clothes more like citified version of a cross between what Rusl had worn, clothes pieced from whatever they could find; and what Link had on, old-fashioned trousers and a loose tunic. Junko had something much larger, and I couldn't really tell the style of it. It was whatever fit him, I supposed.

After changing, we went in the city and split up to avoid suspicion at such a large group of adolescents. We asked around for the Shadow: the man who'd brought me here. A few people had seen him, or rather; a few people had seen a dark blur in the noon sky. The drama of it sounded exactly like him, but I had no doubt we'd see more of him as he tried to be different from other antagonists.

Link bought us each a fruit that looked like an apple, but tasted more like a pear, and was nearly as soft as a ripe peach, right around mid afternoon, and we continued to seek out knowledge of the Shadow, but could find nothing we didn't already know. That was when we found out something a little more hands on than we would have chosen.

The sky went dark for less than a second, but the thing that had covered the sun had descended somewhere in the city. Each of us, in our separate areas knew that something was up and headed towards the place where it, or he I should say, had touched down. Because of winding side streets combined with the crowds, it took us longer than we imagined to find him, but eventually we did, and he was crouched under his cape, as if he were an old, old, man. Link advanced closer to him with me beside him, his sword unsheathed and held out strongly to prevent any harm that could come to anyone.

"Get up, old man," I said threateningly.

"Why?" he asked, the ice in his breath cooling the air, though he straightened the littlest bit.

"Because I would prefer to talk to your face, rather than your cape," I rolled my eyes. His head tipped up to look at me. "Why are you crouched down anyway?"

"It's called camouflage. You have heard of it, haven't you?" he snarled.

"Why would you need camouflage?" I asked, crossing my arms and no longer deeming him a danger. Link didn't relax though.

"Like I would tell you," he snorted. "Now, either get away from me, or help me out and you can get back to your nice, cold dungeon."

"Like I'd do that," I rolled my eyes.

"Then stop meddling and go away," he snapped, and skittered surprisingly quickly down a near side street.

"That was weird…" Aerrow let the sentence hand.

"That's him alright," I said, "He doesn't want to be like every other bad guy, but at the same time, he can't resist the drama of it, at times."

"Should we go after him?" Link asked sharply.

"Only to see what he's doing. I'll act as bait if you can follow me," I said slowly, thinking.

"I'm not so sure about this," Junko said, putting a huge hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, feigning indifference, when I didn't know what would happen. I ran in the direction he had gone. I would lose him if we waited around any longer.

While Link and the others had soft footfalls, I tried to make mine as loud as possible so the Shadow might think only one person was following him. Before long, pain spread across my chest and I had to slow down. There were no moving shadows behind me. _Good, _I thought, _they're out of sight._

"Gotcha," a voice hissed near my ear and a hand enclosed my throat. Fear suddenly shot through me as the bright blond hair showed itself from under the dark hood. The Shadow was far from the old man he'd been acting before, and he lifted me up so my eyes were level with his. I gasped for breath; breath I couldn't find. "Are you going to come quietly now?"

I tried to snap back with something cocky and sarcastic, but I couldn't breathe. I had sort of had this feeling once before, when I bunch of little kids had playfully piled on me, and when one had been squeezing my neck and hadn't been able to breathe properly. But then again, the Shadow's strong hand and arm wouldn't be letting me go so soon. I gasped and was sure I would black out when I heard a young man's shout. The pressure was released from my throat, and I started coughing, but I wasn't let go. He threw me up in the air, and I was sure he was going to let me fall to the hard, hard, ground, which would almost have been better than him catching me under the knees and back, clutching me to his chest, which was what he did. He ran and while I struggled, I was no match for his arms.

* * *

Where is he taking her? Stay tuned to find out!


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

My weak struggling did nothing to help my situation, so I stopped after a few minutes. I couldn't hear the others footsteps either. Where was he taking me?! My face was pressed into the Shadow's chest…I couldn't say I liked that. The fear in my head wouldn't stop pulsing, no matter how I tried to calm my breathing. My hands were constantly clenching and unclenching, taking out my frustration on my palms.

*-*-*

Link tried running after them with the Storm Hawks not far behind. Aerrow and Finn easily matched his pace. That image of her hanging was so…startling. But she was still alive. When he'd thrown her to carry her away, everyone had the same thought, would he just let her drop? But where was he going now? Link knew this city better than the Shadow, yet this antagonist seemed like he had a definite destination.

However, it didn't take long for the seven to be left behind. When footsteps were fading into the distance, an unlikely hero raced forward. Radarr burst in front of them and jumped from awning to roof and moved to catch the man faster than any of the others could. The rest all had hands on knees, breathing hard. Piper's pulse pounded in her neck. What did he want with her? He'd almost killed her just now, and that was unacceptable, no matter whom the victim was.

They waited in the alley way for Radarr to come back. There was no way they could do anything to stop the man now. Several minutes later, a sullen blue dog/monkey came back, panting heavily and without any idea where the Shadow had gone.

"Well, there's nothing we can really do now. We could try to track them, but that's the problem with city streets. And in this part of town, there aren't people around that we could ask for such information," Link said.

"What I'd give for my heli-scooter right now," Piper sighed.

"Well, if that guy had actually wanted to kill her, then he probably would have, rather than carrying her off," Stork reasoned.

"I think what he means is that he's already out to get her, and we all know it, so it would be of no use for him to conceal his crime," Junko added.

"You mean the police, or whatever you have here, would believe our story?" Aerrow asked Link.

"Well," the boy in green said, "They might not believe you, but they would believe me, just like they might not believe me, but they would you in your own world."

"Then what should we do now?" Finn asked, eager to get on with something, rather than just stand around.

Link thought for a minute. "I don't know if we could do anything other than wait for news of anomalies in the city. I think we should hunker down near here and later today and tomorrow, ask around."

"Works for me," Finn said. "Let's just get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps."

*-*-*

If the ride hadn't been so jolting, I actually might have found it almost enjoyable, but there was the fear of the unknowing, and it was jolting. Before long, I had a stress headache from trying to keep my brains from being jostled out of my head.

"Can we stop yet?" I asked into his shirt.

"Only if we've lost your friends," he said, slowing down and turning around to check. Apparently he didn't see anything because he put me down, keeping a strong hold on the back of my neck.

"What do you want with me?" I glared at him.

"Take a wild guess," he retorted sarcastically, "I need you. There's no way I'm going back without you."

"Aww. How sweet of you to be concerned, but I'm doing just fine here," I snapped.

"No, it's that there were complications with the spell I used. Neither of us can go back without the other, and the Storm Hawks have to be returned to their world as well, at the same second." His face darkened with the seriousness of it.

"You made a mistake?" I looked at him, straight in the eyes.

"Nope. The thing that messed up was just supposed to keep you here so you couldn't find a way back, except with me, of course," he looked straight back.

"And you messed that spell up, so now it's holding us hostage," I reasoned.

"No!" he roared. "I cast the spell, and it worked fine until we both touched things in this world. Then, it malfunctioned, and there was no way anyone could have foreseen it."

"And how do you know about the Storm Hawks?" I asked.

"Dear girl," he chuckled, "I've been following you since I pretended to leave. It's easy enough since you don't look particularly close at your surroundings. Some warrior you'd be."

I was chafed at this comment, but I knew the truth in it. I had been too caught up in everything else to notice the world I was in, or very much of it anyway.

"Well, how are you going to get the Storm Hawks, and me for that matter, to trust you enough to get us all back? And it was you who brought them from their world?" I asked.

"I don't know, and I don't think so," he said, thinking as hard as he could. "I'm not even certain I can send them back, since they weren't included in the original spell…" He trailed off.

"What was the spell you used anyway?" I asked, not certain I'd get an answer to this, but thinking I might as well try.

"It translates loosely to English: 'Take myself and said person into said person's dream of my choosing. Let her not escape until I show her the way out myself.' Of course, that's only a loose translation, and as you can see, there isn't room for anyone else to come in with us, which is why I'm not sure why they're here or why they're our ticket out of here," he explained.

I thought for a moment. "Well, they did say that they were in a temple on another world, or on the other side of their own world, when the floor fell away from underneath them and they fell into what Link called the Temple of Time," I said.

"So there might have been loose magic in that temple…" He started pacing, and since his hand was still on the back of my neck, I had to pace with him. I thought about how Tina was the name I'd given myself, and yet the spell had still worked. Was that the problem? After several minutes of indecision, I opened my mouth to speak, only to be drowned out by order from the Shadow.

"Well, in any case, they are the only reason we're trapped here, and I need you to make sure that they're in one place, and that Link isn't in the way, tomorrow at noon. I will try to get us all back in our places then, but I suspect that everyone with put up a fight if they know what's happening." He pressed a ruby-like gem into my hand. "If either you're ready early or late, then let me know by speaking to this stone, and I'll make sure I'll appear accordingly."

I gulped. There seemed to be something wrong with his plan, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

* * *

Huh...so he didn't know where he was going, he's been watching everything, and his spell was messed up...sounds interesting to me!


End file.
